Austin Kleon's Admonishment On Creativity
Keep Going by Austin Kleon is an exhortation to anyone doing creative work. Life happens - people die, we get discouraged, distracted, hurt, ill and old, but in all these the author encourages creators everywhere to let go, develop routines, take walks, and seek solitude among other things.
He notes that one of the keys to creating, regardless of what lie throws at us, is to focus on today: "It is not the experience of today that drives men mad. It is remorse or bitterness for something which happened yesterday or the dread of what tomorrow may bring."
Austin Kleon also warns that those who hide behind their creative work to make themselves and other people miserable are doing the world a disservice and are better off doing something different than art. He writes, "If making your art is ruining anyone's life, including your own, it is not worth making...find something else to do with your time, something that makes you and the people around you feel more alive. The world doesn't necessarily need more great artists. It needs more decent human beings."
Keep Going reads like a book from the heart. I recommend it to those jaded from many years of creative work as well as those feeling giddy from starting off.
Many thanks to Workman Publishing for review copy.
He notes that one of the keys to creating, regardless of what lie throws at us, is to focus on today: "It is not the experience of today that drives men mad. It is remorse or bitterness for something which happened yesterday or the dread of what tomorrow may bring."
Austin Kleon also warns that those who hide behind their creative work to make themselves and other people miserable are doing the world a disservice and are better off doing something different than art. He writes, "If making your art is ruining anyone's life, including your own, it is not worth making...find something else to do with your time, something that makes you and the people around you feel more alive. The world doesn't necessarily need more great artists. It needs more decent human beings."
Keep Going reads like a book from the heart. I recommend it to those jaded from many years of creative work as well as those feeling giddy from starting off.
Many thanks to Workman Publishing for review copy.
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